Looking for Luck
by Aira Lee
Summary: Since her mother's death, everything in Ally's life seems to go downhill. Her stepmother and her daughter's hate her and make her life miserable. And even in school, where everything should be great, Ally is being bullied. But all that changes on a fateful morning, when a police officer called Jim Moon catches her and he and his nephew enter Ally's damaged world. M for violence
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Austin & Ally. All other names, places, songs, products, companies used in this story were chosen randomly and not for insult purposes. The plot is loosely based on real events.**

\- o - o - o -

Ally Dawson POV

It had been on the news all morning. Delta Air Lines' Flight DL 201 had vanished on the Atlantic Ocean thousands of miles away from the coasts of Africa. The pilot had reported a heavy storm ahead and asked permission to fly around it. But before he received an answer, any contact had broken off and the plane had vanished from radar. Experts estimated that the storm which had been raging on the open sea was responsible for the disappearance and might have forced the pilots to crash-land somewhere in the middle of the ocean. It was impossible for search parties and rescue teams to look for the aircraft as long as the storm was still going on. And so, all people could do, was wait and pray.

That was exactly what Ally was doing while staring at the bright screen of the TV. Her eyes were red and swollen from the tears she had cried as soon as the news started reporting the disappearance of Flight DL 201. The plane which was supposed to fly from Johannesburg to Atlanta had vanished and with it the 44-year-old Penny Dawson who had spent 7 months in Africa on a research trip and was finally coming home.

It was dark in the house. Ally had drawn all the curtains, closed every blind shutting the outside world with its disrespectfully bright colours out. She couldn't stand it. The heat and the glistening light of the sun which seemed to be shining brighter than any other day before. The sky which was glowing in a particularly devious shade of blue which resembled the colour the sea had on a lovely summers day at a beach somewhere in the Caribbean. The joyful laughter of her neighbour's kids playing in the front yard. She couldn't stand them. How could anything be so full of joy and goodness while her world was being torn into a million pieces. While she was being ripped apart. She was numb. Her tears had stopped after a few hours and her voice was sore from all the crying and screaming. And now, all Ally could do, was sit in front of the inappropriately bright TV screen, watch people she didn't care for having the time of their life, while she was waiting for a news speaker to appear and tell her that everything was going to be fine. That Flight DL 201 had not actually disappeared, but that the storm had caused a disturbance in their communicative and location systems and that it was on its way to America. Safe and sound.

The huge white clock on the wall of the living room was ticking. Tick tack. Tick tack. Tick tack. And as the hours passed by until the sun had finally begun to set, Ally knew that no news speaker would appear. No one would tell her it was fine. DL 201 was gone. And so were the people who had entrusted their lives to this metal bird conquering the sky, which resembled the sea at a beach somewhere in the Caribbean.

\- o - o - o -

 **Hello there. I hope you enjoyed this short yet tragic prologue to my Auslly fic. I just wanted to inform you, that this is not going to be some Cinderella story, but that the plot I am creating will be based on real events, something that happened to an acquaintance of mine. It will get dark sometimes, but I hope that in the end, the light will overpower the darkness and Ally's search for luck and happiness will be successful.**

 **CU soon, I hope**


	2. Countless Bars and Stray Cats

Jim Moon POV

It was a pretty uneventful night for a Saturday evening. Jim and his partner Danny had been driving around the empty streets of their patrol area in one of Miami's residential districts for hours without anything of interest happening. The only disturbance of their endless drive and chatting about old times had been a call by Mrs Lukas who had mistaken her neighbour's cat for a burglar trying to enter her house like she had done so many times before. Still, Jim was happy about the incident, because stopping by at Mrs Lukases always meant a freshly brewed cup of coffee and sometimes even a piece of cake for the officers on duty. He was convinced that she only called, because she felt so lonely after her sons death a couple of years ago and was in need of company, but he did not really care. In fact, no one at the station cared much, which was why she hadn't been arrested for calling 911 multiple times yet.

Suddenly, Jim felt his phone vibrating in his pocket which was followed by the sound of its old school ringtone. His eyes glued on the empty street in front of him, which was only illuminated by the headlights of the police car, he pulled the phone out and looked on the screen. It was his nephew.

„Hey kiddo, what's wrong?", he asked as it was four in the morning which was a pretty unusual time for a phone call.

„Hey uncle Jim", a somebody said on the other end of the line.

„I'm driving with Danny. I'm putting you on loudspeaker", Jim quickly said before his nephew could speak.

„Okay, hi Danny", he said and the sound of his voice echoed through the car.

„Hi Austin", Danny replied before taking a sip of his extra large coffee.

„Jim, I'm sorry for calling you on duty", he apologised and Jim laughed.

„It's okay. There was not much for us to do anyway, right Dan?" Danny nodded and mumbled something, his cup of coffee still at his mouth.

„So, what's the matter?", Jim asked. He could hear his nephew's discomfort.

„Well, Dad's not picking up the phone and you were the only option left." He sighed and Jim grinned. He knew his brother could sleep through anything, so it he was not surprised.

„The problem is, I'm currently at Ginny's Bar on the other side of town, and the kid who was supposed to give us a lift is totally drunk. So…"

„So you want me to come and pick you up and drive you home", Jim finished the sentence and looked at Danny questioningly who nodded.

„We were getting bored anyhow, and I could use some distraction", Danny said and put down his cup.

„Yeah, me and some friends." Jim suddenly noticed the light sound of giggling girls in the background and shook his head.

„Okay. we'll be there in a bit. Ginny's Bar you said?", Jim asked and checked his surroundings. He then turned around and drove into the opposite direction.

„Thanks, uncle Jim", Austin said gratefully before ending the call.

The officers drove for a while. Soon they had reached the far more central and livelier streets of Miami. The facades of the rows of houses were plastered with huge colourful signs, telling passing people the names of the countless bars, restaurants and night clubs of Miami. It was impossible for one to know all of them. But Ginny's Bar had been known to the Moon family since Jim could remember. At some point in the family history, somebody had become the owner of this place and since then, it had been run by a Moon. Jim was happy, that even though a teenager and a very rebellious one at that, Austin still cared for something so important to their family and chose to spend his Saturday night there with his friends.

Soon, they had reached their destination and Jim pulled over. He was able to spot the blonde among a group of people standing outside the bar smoking and chatting almost immediately and was relieved to see him unharmed. Austin had a history of fights due to his hot-headedness and short temper, and Jim was always worried about his nephew. But he seemed to have gone back to his old cheery self and was laughing at something a friend of his had said.

Jim opened the door and stepped out of the car. He knew, he was being stared at by several other people by now, some of them yelling insults with there newly gained courage before merging back into the grey mass of people, but Jim ignored them.

„Hey kid", he yelled, resting his arms on the roof of the car and waiting for Austin to spot him and Danny.

Austin turned around and a wide grin formed on his face as soon as he saw the officer. He said something to his friends, before they slowly walked over to the police car, the only other boy in their company staggering drunkenly. Besides Austin and the boy, who Jim guessed was the kid who was supposed to drive, he spotted three girls who all seemed to be Austin's age. They had all dressed up, wearing short dresses which as the father of a young daughter he disapproved of and had put on a little bit too much make up for his taste, but nevertheless they looked quite beautiful and he knew they knew that.

„Hi uncle Jim", Austin said, giving his uncle a brief hug and friendly clapping on his back.

„Hi officer Moooon", the black girl with long wavy black hair babbled and clung to Austin's arm for support. He grinned apologetically and shrugged his shoulders.

„Come on, get into the car and let's get you kids home", Jim said and opened the door to the car. With some effort, they managed to get all five teenagers into the vehicle and started driving back the direction they had come from. Jim was quite relieved when he learned that they all lived close by their route back to his brother's house, as he wanted to spend as little time with them as possible. But shortly after they had started driving again, they heard about something going on at a local supermarket in their patrol area. Jim knew he had no choice but to go there, even though he hated the idea of having those kids in his car while he and his partner investigated the situation.

He put that aside and drove as fast as possible to said supermarket. It was still dark outside, and even though it was already five in the morning by now, there was still barely any traffic on the streets.

They got there after only a few minutes and as soon as they had stepped out and ensured that nothing would happen while they were gone, they were already being greeted by a woman in pajamas who introduced herself as the manager of the store. She told the men how she had received a call from the store's security system 10 minutes prior which had reported an abnormality. She had called 911 immediately and walked here, as she was only living two streets away, but was afraid to enter the property, let alone the building. Jim and Danny got out there guns and after receiving the keys to the store from the manager to enter, they moved quickly. The entry was not far from were they had been standing, but Danny and Jim, decided to check the outside first in case the intruders had already left the building and were now waiting for a chance to escape.

There were no cars parked on the lot and so Jim guessed that whoever had set the alarm off, had to be on foot or had a car waiting for him somewhere close. Suddenly, he heard Danny yell from the other side of the store.

„Jim, I got her", Danny yelled and Jim hastily ran around the rest of the building to aid his friend. But when he saw the intruder, he was shocked. Standing next to a row of rubbish containers was a young girl, 16 maybe, with shaking limbs and a bruised eye.

„What's going on?", Jim asked, staring at the petite girl that was being held by Danny confused.

„I was about to ask her the same question", Danny said, emphasising the word ‚her'.

„I found her digging in the dumpster over there", he said and pointed at one of the containers.

„What's your name?", Jim asked her and tilted his head downwards to get a better look at her face.

„Ally", she said barely audible. „My name is Ally Dawson!"

\- o - o - o -

 **What a nice note to end this one. Don't you guys just love cliffhangers? ;) As for the pacing, I know this story is incredibly slow paced and it seems like it will take forever for anything to happen, but I dislike stories where things are rushed too much which is why I will take my time with this one. So, don't even bother to complain about that. Anyhow, I hope you liked this chapter and are excited to learn about what is going to happen next.**


	3. Growling Stomachs and Drunk Teens

Ally Dawson POV

The thought had been in her head for days now. _A lot of the stuff that grocery stores throw away, is perfectly fine and still edible_. At least that was what Mr. Hudson had said during a discussion in her biology class. He had also told them that many people, especially homeless or poor people were often caught garbage picking, even though it was considered to be a form of thievery which was a crime. At first, like everyone else in her class, Ally was disgusted by the idea of digging in rubbish containers for something edible or useful. But every time her stomach cried out from hunger, the thought crept back into her head. Ally was not sure when she had decided to take a look for herself.

And one fateful night, after she had spent hours rolling around on her stiff mattress, the hunger keeping her awake, she finally took action. She had placed one of the boxes with christmas decorations below the narrow basement window and climbed out into the chilly Saturday night. When she hurried away from the house as fast as she could, she discovered that one of the window's was brightly lit. It was Julia, her stepmother's room. Ally knew from experience, that Julia, her father's new wife had an incredibly light sleep and would wake up at even the softest sound. Due to that, they had one too many unpleasant encounters in the middle of the night which never resulted into something good. At least not for Ally.

But this night, even though awake, Julia was not going to catch Ally. In a matter of seconds, Ally had sprinted out of the yard and was running down the street towards the supermarket closest to their house. It was not really big, in fact, compared to some of the stores in Miami's centre, it seemed almost tiny. Still, Ally was convinced, that she would find something. Or at least she and her growling stomach hoped that.

As soon as she reached the store, the property surrounded by a high brick wall which had only one opening for trucks delivering fresh products and customers in their cars, she slowed down and checked her surroundings. There was no one on the streets, which was not unusual as she was living in a residential area with only a supermarket and a liquor store on the other end of the road. There was never much traffic anyway, and so Ally was sure, that no one would come and see her. But still, she was nervous. She leaned against the wall, which had been covered in graffiti by some kids and breathed in deeply. Almost automatically, her hands reached for a strand of her brown curly hair and lifted it to her mouth. She started chewing nervously, her eyes scanning the darkness for anything. Ally stayed like this for a while until her heartbeat slowed down and she felt ready to do what she had come for. Her stomach grumbled.

„Okay Ally, you can do this", she whispered to herself reassuringly and clenched her fists.

„It can't be that hard", she continued and slowly moved towards the entry. There was no gate blocking her way, so she just walked right onto the parking lot and tried to spot the large rubbish containers which would silence her stomach. Her eyes had gotten used to the darkness by now and so it didn't take her long, to find them. Looking around again, she quickly walked over and placed her hand on the edge of one of the container lids.

„So many people do it", she said, pushing the lid up so a little opening would form. She was hit by a rather unpleasant smell and turned her face away in disgust. The sun had been shining all day and the heat had fastened the decay process. Ally let go of the lid and took a few steps backwards. Was she really going to do that? Was she really going to become one of those people who had to look through other people's rubbish in order not to starve? Suddenly, all of her determination vanished and she made her way to sit next to the large dark containers. Ally closed her eyes and felt the cool wall on her back while she reconsidered her plan. She was a good girl. She had a home and a father who loved her. She was a straight A-student with an incredible passion for music.

Ally looked at her hands. When was the last time she had played the piano? When was the last time she had even thought about playing any instrument? She didn't remember. She didn't care.

Suddenly her stomach interrupted her thoughts and reminded her of why she had come here. It was not only the sound, but the incredibly sharp pain in her belly, that made her get up and open the container lid once more, ignoring the hideous smell. Ally reached inside and grabbed something which felt like a plastic container for yogurt. She pulled it out and stared at the cup saying Pudding Snacks on top with the name of the brand written in bright red colour. She stared at the food in her hand and was grateful to whomever out there that he had thrown this perfectly fine cup of chocolate pudding into this container. Ally stopped thinking, and started eating.

She was almost in trance, opening the lid, grabbing something, stuffing it in her mouth, that she forgot everything around her and didn't hear the sound of people talking close-by. In fact, when suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the container, making her drop the half-eaten apple, she shrieked and stared at a man's face. He was a police officer.

Ally realised that she had been carried away and gotten uncautious. The man looked at her confused.

„What in the name of the Lord", he mumbled, staring at her intensely.

„Jim, I got her", he yelled loudly and Ally closed her eyes. It was over now. But she didn't regret it for one second. Because finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the sharp pain had gone and her stomach had been silenced.

Shortly after, another officer appeared next to them and looked at Ally confused.

„What's going on?", he asked and stared right into her eyes. Ally looked away, trying to cover the large bruise on her eye with her hair.

„I was about to ask her the same question. I found her digging in the dumpster over there", the one holding her wrist said, and pointed at the container behind her. Ally felt the need to chew her hair, but she stayed motionless and waited.

„What's your name?", one of them asked and Ally swallowed hard before answering. She knew it would do her no good to resist.

„Ally. My name is Ally Dawson", she answered with a very low voice.

„"D'ya mind telling me what the hell you are doin' here in the middle of the night?", the taller one, who had caught her, asked.

„Nothing much", she answered slowly and played with the hem of her shirt nervously.

„Look, the manager called us. You set off the alarm, young lady. I found you digging in the container over there. That is not nothing", he said and shook her lightly as if trying to make her come to her senses. But Ally knew what she had done, she knew it was illegal. But she didn't care. She was not regretting it one bit.

„I-I'm sorry", she whispered only loud enough so they could hear.

„That won't do it, I'm afraid", the second one said and sighed.

„Go get the manager, Danny. I'm gonna talk to her", he said and the one named Danny finally let go of her wrist and walked away.

„I'm Jim by the way", he introduced himself and waited for a second so she could reply. But Ally said nothing.

„How old are you anyways?", Jim asked and bend forward to look at her face.

„17", she answered.

„Don't you have a home?", he asked and Ally could hear the disbelief in his voice. He wouldn't understand. No one ever did.

„I think."

„Then would you mind telling me, what a young girl like you is doing looking through a goddamn dumpster in the middle of the night?", he asked raising his voice.

„I was hungry", was the only thing she said. It was then that Danny returned with a woman in pajamas who would have to be said manager.

„Is that her?", she asked and looked at Ally. Unlike Ally believed, the woman was not staring at her disapprovingly or even angrily, but she could detect a hint of sorrow and sympathy in her eyes, which confused her.

„Listen officers, since nothing happened, I'm willing to forget the entire thing if _you_ ", she looked at Ally intensly and for once Ally did not look away, „promise that something like this will not happen again. Ever." Ally nodded relieved and hoped she would get away.

„Well, I can't say that I want to arrest a kid in the middle of the night", Danny said and smiled at the manager gratefully.

„Thank you for coming", the manager said to the officers and looked at Ally again.

„What are you going to do with her?", she asked crossing her arms in front of her chest, protecting it from the cool night breeze.

„We still have some questions. And then we will bring her home and talk to her parents", Jim answered and the manager nodded approvingly.

„Good", she replied.

„Well, I will be going now, if that is okay. Goodnight gentlemen", she said and turned around to leave.

„Goodnight", Danny answered and placed one of his hands on Ally's shoulders, making her wince in pain.

„You got extremely lucky tonight, kid", he said to Ally.

„Do you mind telling us why you were looking for food in here?", he asked her.

„I told you, I was just really hungry", she answered a bit louder than before and looked at the officers with her puppy dog eyes.

„Couldn't you just have eaten something at home?", Jim asked her and seemed to be paying special attention to the black bruise on her eye.

„We ran out of food", she replied shortly and lowered her head again.

„Okay. And what about that bruise?", Jim asked and pointed at the black spot on her face.

„I hit my face on a cupboard. No big deal", she answered and saw him raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

„I'm kinda clumsy", she added and looked away, trying to hide the topic of their conversation from them.

„Anyhow, we are going to drive you home now, young lady", Danny said and Ally felt the anxiety creeping back and making it hard to breathe.

„You really don't have to. I only live a few streets from here, anyway", she said nervously and grinned awkwardly at the officers.

„I'm afraid we have to", Jim replied and grabbed her wrist.

„Come on. Let's get you back to the car." Ally sighed and tried not to think of Julia's reaction when the police would knock on her door and hand over her step-daughter who had been caught steeling from a supermarket dumpster. Her face frowned in desperation, but neither Danny nor Jim seemed to notice the fear on her face.

Together, they returned to the police car that had been parked on the street in front of the supermarket. She heard Danny sigh and mutter something incomprehensible as soon as the vehicle came into sight, and soon she was able to spot the group of teenagers sitting in the back seats of the car. She swallowed. Would they put her with them? She hoped not. Just the thought of having to ride with other kids her age who had probably done even worse stuff than her, made her uncomfortable.

„I had forgotten about them", Jim said and looked at Danny.

„How about we get them a cab so we can bring this one home in peace?", Danny suggested and Jim nodded.

„Sounds like a plan. Why don't you wait here and call a cab and I will tell them", Jim said and walked towards the car. As soon as he opened the door, the loud sound of drunk teenagers filled the night and their voices echoed through the silent street. They were babbling the most random stuff, giggling and laughing and shouting at each other. Jim helped them get out of the car and Ally turned around so they would not see her. She looked at Danny while he spoke to someone on the phone ordering a cab, but kept her attention on the loud group of drunk teens. For a second, she thought the voices were familiar and when she turned around to look at them and check if she was right, she saw them. They were kids from her school. Kira Starr, Cassidy, Brooke, the guy from her English class. And Austin Moon. When Ally's eyes fell on that certain blonde, the school's most popular kid, she was met by a pair of dark eyes staring at her confused. Ally looked away immediately and cursed herself for turning around.

„Stupid", she whispered angrily at herself and she knew that he had recognised her. Great way to make your life even more miserable, Ally, she thought to herself and closed her eyes, shutting the outside world out.

They waited until the cab came. Jim had explained the situation to the teens as briefly as possible but in a way that they as drunk as they were would still understand. The officer helped them get into the cab and as soon as they had driven off, he turned around and waved at Ally to come over.

„Sorry for that", he apologised to her and closed the door as soon as Ally had taken a seat in the back of the car. It smelled of alcohol and sweaty teens inside, but she didn't care. All she could think of, was the horrors that were awaiting her behind the next corner.

\- o - o - o -

 **I hope I'm not spoiling you guys by uploading so many chapters in such a short period of time, but I'm having a flow at the moment and I might as well use it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and make sure to stay tuned, because next chapter there will finally be some Auslly interaction. Make sure to leave a review and I might upload another chapter today... CU guys**


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